Elden Ring Nightreign’s Player Count is Dropping Fast, But It Doesn’t Mean What You Think

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Last year at The Game Awards, FromSoftware unveiled something unexpected with Elden Ring Nightreign – it wasn’t a DLC or sequel as many anticipated, but rather a multiplayer spin-off featuring co-op gameplay and battle royale elements built upon the original design. To be honest, Elden Ring Nightreign didn’t resemble anything FromSoftware had created before. Despite their assurance that it would include an offline mode, it appeared to forgo the solo, carefully crafted content typically associated with the studio.

Initially, gamers had shown a measure of apprehension towards Elden Ring: Nightreign. However, upon its release on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC in May 2025, the game exceeded expectations, garnering both critical acclaim and commercial success. The title sold over 2 million copies in a single day and received generally positive feedback from players across all platforms. Interestingly, despite Elden Ring: Nightreign‘s widespread popularity, it has recently experienced a significant drop in player count, particularly on Steam. This is not typically a major concern for most multiplayer games today, but in the case of Elden Ring: Nightreign, it’s less worrisome.

Elden Ring Nightreign’s Declining Player Counts is Not Cause for Concern

Concurrent Player Counts for Elden Ring Nightreign on Steam Have Dropped More than 80%

In simpler terms, “Elden Ring Nightreign” launched with approximately 313,000 players simultaneously on Steam, which is about a third of the record number of players for the original “Elden Ring”. The excitement surrounding the game persisted for several days until around June 7th, when the number of players began to plummet significantly. As of writing this, “Elden Ring Nightreign” had a peak of over 53,000 players in the last 24 hours on Steam. While these numbers are still impressive, the active playerbase for the game is currently around 82% smaller than it was at launch, and it now has fewer concurrent players than the three-year-old “Elden Ring” on the same platform.

Elden Ring Nightreign is Not a Live Service Game, So Player Counts Don’t Matter That Much

Let’s ease any concerns about whether Elden Ring Nightreign is fading. Unlike many multiplayer games, it isn’t a live service title. As explained by the game’s director, Junya Ishizaki, some time ago, Elden Ring Nightreign is a completed, paid multiplayer game that doesn’t feature battle passes, microtransactions, seasons, or similar elements. In other words, a decrease in players won’t significantly impact Elden Ring Nightreign because it doesn’t rely on long-term fan engagement to be financially successful.

FromSoftware is Adding Some New Content to Elden Ring Nightreign in the Future

Despite not possessing the typical elements of contemporary live service games, Elden Ring Nightreign is set to receive substantial content updates imminently. Just recently, FromSoftware announced that on July 30, Elden Ring Nightreign will introduce a two-player cooperative mode, along with several user-friendly enhancements and some filtering options for Relics. The long-awaited two-player feature for Nightreign has been in high demand among fans even before the game’s launch, so it is expected to reinvigorate many players who had taken a break from the game.

In the current month, FromSoftware has been organizing weekly Everdark Sovereign events within Elden Ring Nightreign, and they intend to carry on with this schedule in the upcoming weeks.

Apart from the upcoming update for Elden Ring: Nightreign, developer FromSoftware plans to launch a paid expansion pack this year as well. This unnamed expansion, available at no additional cost in the Deluxe Edition of Elden Ring: Nightreign, will introduce some new playable characters and bosses. Although details about the DLC’s contents are scarce, its release is expected to draw more players back to the game, much like future updates do.

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2025-07-28 18:34